Derelict Vehicles Issue Is A Complex One: Deputy Premier

Deputy Premier and Minister for Natural Resources and Labour, Dr. the Hon. Kedrick Pickering bemoaned the situation of derelict vehicles littered across the Territory at a public meeting that was held on 16 November in Cane Garden Bay.

Hon. Pickering while responding to a resident’s complaint about the unsightliness of old vehicles dumped in various areas commented that he finds this form of littering bothersome as well. However, the Deputy Premier announced that dealing with the situation is not a simple matter: “The issue with derelict vehicles is a very sore one… There is an issue of storage; and it is also compounded by the fact that the price of steel plummeted on the international market, so there isn’t a market to sell it to,” the Deputy Premier explained.

He noted that in the past Government had an arrangement for ridding the Territory of the derelict vehicle: “We had a deal with a company in St. Croix that would come and take it (derelict vehicles). It would cost us nothing, but the problem is we did not have enough to supply,” the Minister for Natural Resources added.

The issue of derelict vehicles was also mentioned at a public meeting in 2013 that was also held at Cane Garden Bay. At that time, Minister for Health and Social Development, Hon. Ronnie Skelton announced that efforts were being made to rid the Territory of derelict vehicles.